Better Than You Think
by BabyGabe
Summary: There are three things that Apollo is better at than you think. Little bit of Yaoi. Klapollo and maybe a little more.
1. Lying

**1. Lying**

Trucy was having a hard day.

First she goes to school before Apollo and Athena arrive at the Agency, not allowing her to even greet her new family. Even though she wasn't close enough to Athena yet, she absolutely loved Apollo's company, especially when she could get him to blush and stutter. He was a socially awkward person who was always fluttering about, trying to keep her from doing anything dangerous, or against the rules. And she was grateful for it.

But that's not the point of this. Then when she gets to school, her teachers all ride her case about her absences and her missing work. Of course she tries to explain to them that her daddy was a lawyer and he had just recruited some new workers. Those new workers needed help in court and she had to be there for them, it wouldn't be fair to leave them hanging. Of course they had refused to believe her and had even gone so far as to accuse her of lying.

Then she's given this progress report and is expected to take it home, have her father sign it, and then bring it back with a phone number and an expected meeting. Of course she tells them that her father is always busy and they in turn tell her to make him find time or find another guardian, and that they want this report back by the next day or she's going to repeat the grade. In turn she went rushing home, and thought of all the possibilities.

One. She could tell her father. He would not be happy. Not even with her biggest eyes and sweetest 'Daddy~' would he forgive her straight column of big red F's. He would ground her for a year, at least, and he wouldn't let her do magic. They are raking in enough money now that they have three lawyers around, so she wouldn't be able to make up that excuse.

Two. She could hide it. Maybe skip school. No that would never work, at one point or another not only would her father notice but so would Apollo. Then both of them would be on her case. She didn't want that, especially since she couldn't lie to either of them. Her daddy with his magatama and skillful questions, and her brother with his all seeing eyes and his stare of pure steel. She couldn't get away with anything.

Three. She could forge a signature. But her dad's signature was so swirly and complicated that she couldn't duplicate it without days of staring at a microscope and very delicately copying with exact movements and careful placement. She could just make up a signature before she could get his.

Which was option number Four. But then they'd be questioning who it was and why they were signing in place of her father. They'd also want to meet this new made up person. They'd be expecting to meet an adult, someone who was supposed to take care of her. A parent. A brother...

A mom.

She blinked before grinning. Maybe she could get Thalassa to do it! She grew giddy before grabbing her cellphone from her book-bag. Then she stopped. Thalassa may be her mother, but she was also Apollo's. Which means that he would know. Then her father would find out because using his magatama he would pressure Apollo and or Trucy, or even Thalassa into admitting something that they didn't really want to and then she'd get in a snit she threw her phone onto the couch with a thud.

"Something wrong, Truce?" She jumped before turning to meet eyes with Apollo, holding a little cardboard tray that had four cups of coffee, two of which being iced. She stood with a squeal before wrapping two arms around his torso. He smiled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders before allowing her to take one of the iced cups and then placing the rest of them down on the desk that he had claimed for his own, considering Phoenix didn't use it and Athena came a little too late to fight for it. He then took one of the hot cups before sipping it.

"So you gonna answer my question or what?"

"Such a one track mind, Polly!" She giggled trying to lead him off the path toward her progress report. "What makes you think there's something wrong?"

She mentally cursed herself. She said the completely wrong thing to the completely wrong person. She realized this even before he narrowed his eyes and placed his cup down crossing his arms over his chest. "What did you do?"

She gave up immediately. There was no point in hiding it. She dragged herself over to her book-bag, snatching out the green page of paper from her folder and dragged herself back over to a now curious Apollo. She held the paper out to him before hanging her head as he took it. He scanned it over with the same unamused glance before raising an eyebrow and looking at her. She melted under his glare.

"I'm sorry, Polly."

"You said you had your school work handled, Trucy! What happened?"

"Well~," She paused and glanced to meet eyes with Apollo, "I was so caught up in helping you guys that I may have skipped a few days of school to sort through your files and do my own investigating."

"Trucy!"

"A-And then I helped you in court! But then Athena came and took my place, so I hung out with Jinxie. I even visited Maya and Pearl for a few weeks before Daddy told me to go back to school. That's when…"

"When we started asking you about school work."

"Yeah! And I told you I had it under control. But then I had so much work stacked up that I pushed it aside and-"

"Didn't do it."

"Yeah! Then my teachers pulled me aside and gave me this progress report. They told me that I had to-"

"Have Mr. Wright sign it and bring it in or else you would have to repeat the grade."

"Yeah! Wow Polly, you're good at this."

He sighed. She pouted as he folded the paper up and placed it within his breast pocket. "Polly, please don't tell Daddy!"

"He has to know Trucy. And I know that you aren't planning on showing him yourself. As your older brother it's my responsibility."

"B-But, he's gonna take away my magic!" She began to tear up. She didn't want this to happen, she had expected that she would be disappointed. She hadn't cried for months. That was when Apollo was in the hospital after that courtroom explosion. And here she was, uncontrollably sobbing over the fact that if her dad finds out that she's failing, she's wasn't going to be able to do her magic.

"Oh, Trucy. Stop it." Apollo almost whined out. He hated being put into these situations, and Trucy knew this. Suddenly she felt worse as she tried to hold back sobs. Apollo wiped her cheeks. "I'm sure Mr. Wright wouldn't do that. He's a bit of a pushover."

"With you! B-But he's anal about school, Polly. And with these grades, he's gonna take away everything! I'm gonna be grounded for years!" She threw her arms around his torso and Apollo blanched in guilt. He sighed and lightly pushed her off, using his thumb to wipe a few more tears away before reaching over to grab a pen from the mug he had sitting in front of the computer he had bought. She tried to still her gasps as he pulled the folded progress report from his pocket and began to sign his signature on the dotted line.

"Polly?" He held out the page to her before throwing his pen into the coffee mug.

"This is just a progress report, right? I won't tell Mr. Wright."

She stopped breathing. "Really?"

"Yeah. I won't tell him, but you absolutely _have_ to show him the report card. Whatever grades you have on that, whether they be F's or A's, are going to the mercy of Mr. Wright." He shuddered. "And I'll go to meet your teachers as your older brother, if you agree to do something for me in return."

She blinked before grinning and jumping for joy, throwing a sloppy kiss onto his cheek, thanking him before scuttling to put the page into her folder and into her book-bag. She couldn't seem to stop sniffling though. With another 'thank you, so much!' she rushed into her room before her father could witness her red nose and eyes. Apollo had kept up his side of the deal. He had appeared just before school, which, luckily, was also just before her father had woken up. She had taken him to each of her classes and watched as he went through each meeting with a smile and a handshake.

"You're her older brother?"  
"Why couldn't her father be here?"  
"How old are you?"

Each answer rolled off his tongue with no problem, much to Trucy's surprise. She was in awe at how easily he avoided some questions and managed to smooth his way through others. He was usually so socially awkward, how he had managed to snuff them off of her trail was a complete mystery, but she wasn't about to question it. When the time came to go back home, she could only grin as Apollo and she sat on the red leather couches.

"Thanks Polly. I really am grateful for what you did for me."

"Yeah, well. You got me with the tears. I couldn't let my little sister cry." She smiled before hugging. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and laid against him, and he returned the affection with an arm around her torso.

"Aww, such sibling love~!" Both looked up at the intruder. Athena was gushing a foot behind them, her widget glowing green as she wandered closer. "I wish I had a brother! You're so lucky Trucy!" Trucy could only giggled before her dad came walking in, loosening his tie and slumping down across from them.

"Hey Apollo, Trucy. How were your days?"

"Pretty good." Apollo answered. Trucy hummed in agreement standing to kiss her father's cheek.

"What did you do today?" The clock struck twelve at the back of Trucy's mind. There was no way either her nor Apollo could say anything without the Psyche locks reacting. Her daddy would certainly keep asking until her broke them.

"I walked Trucy to school and then I spent some time with Klavier." Trucy panicked. How Apollo could think he was going to get away with this was beyond her. She could only give his smug smile wide eyes. It was only a matter of time before her daddy would start questioning-

"Some quality time with the hubby, huh?" Phoenix teased. "He's not my 'hubby', Mr. Wright!" Apollo blushed. What? She gave her father and awe filled look. How-? Wha-? Did he really not sense anything from Apollo? Did Apollo just get away with murder?

She blinked and then giggled. "Oh come on Polly~." She cooed. "You guys are engaged. Klavier's already so excited." For the rest of that day, she giggled and laughed alongside her family, even helping Athena break into the new atmosphere. She then glanced at her book-bag before excusing herself and slipping into her room. With a glance back at the group, she caught Apollo's wink, and nodded before shutting her door and tossing her stuff and herself onto her bed.

"I need to get Polly to teach me how to do that."

**Author's Note: I know this ****isn't hardcore lying, but technically it's still lying. One of three things Apollo is good it. If you want to read the other two, please review. I accept all comments, and want all comments. Constructive criticism will help greatly, but please don't rip apart my story. It is my first here on this amazing website. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. ^w^**

_**Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction using characters from the Ace Attorney world. I do not claim any ownership over the characters or the world used. The story I tell here about Ace Attorney is my own invention, and it is not purported or believed to be part of Ace Attorney's story canon. This story is for entertainment only and is not part of the official story line. I am grateful to the Ace Attorney series, for if it did not exist I would not have been able to make this story.**_


	2. Stealing

_**2. Stealing**_

Apollo was engaged.

But that didn't stop him from having a little fanclub. Athena took note of this very quickly. Though there were five of them that were very distinct to her.

The first one was a little boy that goes by the name of Machi Tobaye. He was kind and delicate, with little blonde curls and bright blue eyes. He came to visit with Thalassa, a woman that Athena had learned was not only Trucy's mother, but Apollo's as well. Machi had greeted her with a kind smile and a light handshake. She greeted him with the same in return. However, before she could managed to start a conversation, Apollo had walked in, and little Machi had taken off running. She had never seen anyone go that fast.

He was by Apollo's side within seconds, rambling about things she couldn't understand with his accent. Somehow Apollo had, and he smiled down at the blonde as he made his way to his desk. The gleam in Machi's eyes was something Athena could not mistake.

The little blonde had a crush on her coworker.

She only grew giddy when Trucy began to egg on the idea with little tidbits about how Apollo had saved his life in the courtroom, managing to convince the boy to testify the truth. Oh how she wished she had seen the moment that boy's crush had sprouted. But alas, she was too late, and as far as she knew, that trial doesn't have a tape.

The next was much more annoying, though he came over less. His name was Wocky Kitaki. He was a thug muffin that came by once every few weeks. His hair was greased up in an obnoxious fashion and his clothes were bright and flashy. The way he spoke was like nails on a chalkboard to her, if nails on a chalkboard were always grammatically incorrect and tried too hard.

She had met him one day while she was helping Apollo help Trucy with her magic. He had come barging in with a grin and a strange limp, though Wocky had told her that it was 'swagger'. To her it just seemed like he really had to use the bathroom. And apparently it seemed like it to Apollo too. She laughed when he pointed to where the bathroom was.

Wocky hadn't been as insulted with Apollo as he was with her. And once she stepped aside, just for a second, he had taken her place next to Apollo. She raised an eyebrow as Wocky inched his way closer and closer to her red clad friend. Trucy then winked at her and with a wave of her wand and quick spin she pushed Apollo slightly. Athena watched as Apollo was sent stumbling back into Wocky's arms. She giggled as Wocky blushed and Apollo just seemed a little more than frustrated as he stood and dusted himself off, apologizing to the now flushed and flustered thug muffin that was still relishing in the fact that he had just finished holding, and she quotes this from when she had eavesdropped on him talking to himself, 'Yo One o' da finest, smartest, kindest peoples he's ever liked'. Though she only learned this after he had managed to stutter and trip his way out of the office entrance.

He then swaggered off into the sunset reciting what she believed to be his version of poetry. Though what she really heard was 'Roses is red Violets is blue Even though you've been taken ah will find uh way ta jack yo' heart'. She suddenly felt very protective of Apollo. Only for a little while.

His next fan was someone she had known for a long time.

Simon didn't exactly show it off like Machi or Wocky, but she could see the little hints. The first time she had seen it was when she had invited him over for a little celebration of sorts. It wasn't a huge case, but they had found the truth once more, and now they've had twenty straight wins. This time she had been the lead Defense Attorney with Apollo by her side. Gaspen Payne had been their failure of an opponent. It had only taken a couple hours to finish the case, as opposed to their usual… a lot… of days.

So after the little Wright & Co. ragtag family had made it back to the office, Athena proposed a party. Apollo failed at shooting it down and Trucy had mass called a bunch of old friends that Athena had yet to me. Within an hour the office was still pretty much empty.

Thalassa had arrived with Machi, and Wocky had decided that it was a good day to visit. Then in walked Klavier. All three had crowded the red clad attorney, and being dense, Apollo played no mind to how they ogled as he spoke. Athena had only paid attention until Simon had walked through the door with Taka. Trucy had greeted him brightly and then pulled him to where Athena sat giggling. After a quick greeting Athena had pointed out the little group of men in the corner.

She had gotten bored, but Simon hadn't.

Once Athena had turned to face him so that they could finally catch up, she found that he had been absorbed in watching Apollo speak. She listened closely hoping to catch a little thought. She tittered and Simon turned to face her with a raised brow.

"Is something funny?"

"No. Not at all." She replied as she giggled into the cup she lifted to her lips.

"You're not very good at lying. Justice-dono would be appalled."

"Hmmm. It's strange how you mention Apollo at a time like this." She drawled out exaggeratedly.

"Are you implying something?" Simon interrogated. Athena shrugged a she swallowed and then stood.

"Maybe I am. Maybe I'm not." She placed her cup down and then looked over at Trucy who sat giggling with Thalassa and Phoenix. "I'm going to join Trucy. You should mingle with the boys. I'm sure Apollo would like to introduce you to his fiancé."

"Fiance?"

Homerun. Touchdown. Goal. Any other thing you would say if you earned a point in a sport she knew nothing about. He was interested. She nodded and watched when he stood and sauntered over to the group. Apollo was quick to invite him to speak. Athena herself then walked over to Trucy who slyly smirked at her before pushing her aside.

"So, from what I can see, Simon is crushing on Polly?"

"I wouldn't say he's crushing yet, but the seed has been planted. I could almost hear his thoughts, but he caught me trying."

For the rest of the night, both Trucy and Athena had watched the interaction. Athena knew though, knew that Simon would be coming over more often.

The next was part of the fan club, not because they were in love with Apollo, but more for the fact that they cared deeply for him.

Phoenix was very nice, so she would never tease him for when he would keep his eyes all over Trucy. That was his daughter. His princess. She would however take any chance she could to tease him for the father complex he had over Apollo. No matter how much Phoenix would pout at her for pointing it out, she just couldn't stop. Well she could, but only when Apollo arrived. She didn't want to be scolded by him. (She had to admit, he acted like a mom more than he acted like a coworker.)

The first time she caught this fatherly side of her boss was when she had walked in to a day of visitors. Actually, it was a normal Wednesday, but it was one of those days that Phoenix was wearing his suit in the office, and it had one guest. She grinned as she saw Apollo swatting a blonde away from his desk, and the blonde laughing in a German accent. She didn't even know it was possible to _laugh_ with an _accent_.

Before she could question who the man was, Phoenix was pushing him out the door with a dark glare, muttering. She glanced over to Trucy who was grinning on the couch. Suddenly Apollo was hovering over Trucy with his hands on his hips, scolding her about homework. Trucy disappeared into her room. Once Apollo returned to his desk, Phoenix returned to the office, his true feelings loud and clear. Athena could only giggle as she listened to the worst of insults, all referencing a man named Klavier. She told the censored version to Trucy later on that day. _Apollo couldn't pick a better guy to marry? The perv always wants to touch him. He needs to back off! No one's gonna touch my Polly while I'm around. That's my pride right there, right next to my Trucy who is my joy, and I'm not going to give him up to some sparkly, orange, glimmerous fop who only wants in his pants! _She held her breath and slowly turned to Apollo who noticed her staring and raised an eyebrow as she burst out laughing.

"What?"

"Daddy doesn't like your husband!" She teased. Apollo began to glow dark red and she then turned around and walked out, no longer able to see her coworkers without laughing. That was the day she figured out that parents can have crushes on their children. Cute, little, platonic crushes that can try and fail to cut out any love interest possible. She's seen a daddy and their little girl, but this would be the first she's ever seen a daddy and his baby boy. Then again, Apollo would fight that statement to the ends of the earth.

"Dammit Athena! He's not my father!"

The last person would be the one and only magical sparkly fiance that she's never really gotten the chance to properly meet. She's seen him once on a case, but didn't know that he was Apollo's fiance. Klavier Gavin was a famous rock star. He sung and played guitar in the Gavinners, a group that Athena wasn't necessarily a fan of, but she knew about them.

Trucy was the first one to tell Athena about him. She was glad to be away from her homework. (Athena didn't understand what the problem was about the school work either, she just knew that Apollo had been all over Trucy for it.) But Athena could only see it to believe it, and the day he came in was the day Athena began to write down how many people seemed to just fall in love with Apollo.

He came sauntering in, literally sparkling as he greeted Trucy and a now grumpy hobo Phoenix. He then turned to face Athena. "Hallo~" was all he had said and suddenly she was melting into every word. It was the accent, she loved listening to accents.

Klavier had recognized her from the case at Juniper's school and was happy to get to know her. However, just like all the other people she had wanted to meet, as Apollo walked distractedly through the door reading file and carrying a cardboard tray of four coffees; two iced, Klavier had stood and rushed to his side. Apollo, busy with the case file, was surprised when the tray was taken from his hand and he was met with a tall, tan, and blonde German face. Klavier was quick to steal a kiss before Apollo began to swat at Klavier's right arm and chest, scolding him for causing Apollo to jump.

"So this is the hubby, Polly?" Athena laughed grabbing one of the two iced coffee's. Trucy took the other and as Phoenix reached for one, Klavier scooped it up without noticing and Apollo sent Phoenix an apologetic look, giving up his own, which Phoenix took tetchily.

"Not hubby-"

"Ja. Apollo and I are very excited to be married."

"We're not married yet."

"Polly, why do you always push him away? You guys are getting married soon." Trucy tittered.

"No. Keep pushing. It's healthy." Phoenix piped up sipping at his drink.

Klavier laughed. "I love the pushing. It makes the loving all the more worth it." He continued to laugh, especially at Phoenix's glare and Apollo's flush.

"Don't say things like that!" Apollo chastised.

"Get out." Phoenix deadpanned.

Both went ignored as Trucy pulled both Klavier and Athena aside for some dirt on the soon to be newlyweds. He left hours later, and with Phoenix complaining to Apollo in the corner, Trucy came up with a plan.

And that's why she was here now, sitting on the couch, laughing inwardly with Trucy and Thalassa as Apollo sat at his desk, Klavier smiling and standing on one side of him, offhandedly attempting to ward off any attempts of flirting, Phoenix on his other side, blatantly glaring. Machi standing in front of the desk, grinning widely. Wocky telling Apollo about his most recent activities, that of which didn't include gang activity, and Simon, who sat slightly away from the group, but clearly involved in the conversation, proven by when he sharply commented of Wocky's story and Apollo giggled, causing every other man to glare in his direction and a triumphantly smug smirk on his face.

"Apollo sure knows how to capture a heart." Thalassa commented.

"He steals those suckers like seagulls steal bread! It's too bad he's too dense to realize it." Trucy replied. Athena nodded and took a sip from the plastic red cup filled with juice.

"With all that talk about justice, Apollo really is a common thief huh?"

Then Wocky spilled his drink all over Machi 'by accident'.

**Author's Note: I had fun with this chapter. Hope you enjoyed it. ^w^**


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